Mark Glover's blog includes reviews of the latest motor vehicles introduced for sale in the United States, his take on various aspects of the auto industry and periodic insights on auto racing at home and abroad.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Chrysler 300 ... a sedan that still matters

This review originally appeared in the
September 2012 edition of theNorthern
& Central California Cruisin’ Newspublished out of Folsom,
California – mg

Sacramento, California– When Chrysler came out with its Chrysler 300
sedan for the 2004 model year, I remember thinking: FINALLY, a contemporary
Mopar family hauler with some daring and dash!

Remember that first 300 grille,
looking about the approximate size of North
Dakota. In a
rearview mirror, an approaching Chrysler 300 looked like a giant land shark
ready to devour compact and midsize cars alike.

Well, the grille on the current 300
is a little more understated, and dare I say stylish.And overall, the 300 retains its swagger, a
big-shouldered freeway cruiser that can haul kids and cargo … and the driver
can still fantasize the he/she is piloting a horsepower-laden bomb on some
NASCAR track of dreams.

My tester was the 2012 300S with
all-wheel drive, which translates to a 3.6-liter V-6 power plant putting out
292 horses at a gas-gulp rate of 18 miles per gallon in the city and 27 mpg on
the highway. Let me state straight up:
That was plenty of horsepower for me.

The 300S was a more-than-willing
performer in all conditions, and no, it was not the SRT8 with a V-8 dishing up
a rip-roaring 470 horses. That SRT8
starts near $50,000, compared with a starting price of $35,820 on my
tester. I have no problem with folks
spending 50-K on a speed merchant, but alas, I haven’t been on super friendly
terms with the Highway Patrol for years, so I’d be happy with the cost savings.

No matter what version of the 300
purchased, you get a lot of gears: 8 of them to be exact. Frankly, eight speeds through the automatic
gearbox meant little to performance, but hey, it’s an impressive line on the
stat chart.

Even in basic trim, the 300 is
fairly loaded. Interior comfort and
quiet is admirable. There’s plenty of
room for three normal- to large-size adults in the back seats. The trunk yawns open wide for a double-stack
of luggage. Good vehicle for a long vacation
road trip? Absolutely.

I again struggled with some of the
controls, somehow managing to turn the blind-spot warning system on and off in
a display of unrelenting technical ignorance.
You know you’re getting old when the interior controls are besting you
on a regular basis.

One thing I could have done without
was the in-cabin audio warning system.
Several times, after being in totally gridlocked traffic for five minutes,
I’d get a jarring audio bite of “traffic ahead” through the cabin.

Well, thank you Captain
Obvious! If the system is that slow on
the draw, I’d rather handle things myself.

Truthfully, though, that was a
small irritation. I’ve liked this
particular version of the Chrysler 300 since it was introduced, and getting
another week in it was as comfortable as slipping into a favorite set of
clothes.

Auto Enthusiasts

About

Mark Glover has been a professional journalist for 40 years. Since 1984, he has worked for The Sacramento Bee in California's capital city. He was the paper's auto editor from 2000-08, reviewing hundreds of motor vehicles during that time. His reviews currently appear at sacbee.com and in the Northern & Central California Cruisin' News published monthly out of Folsom, California. He is a former director on the board of the California Autombile Museum in Sacramento. A lifelong auto racing fan, Glover has attended the Indianapolis 500 since 1961. He has an extensive Indy 500 collection of programs, tickets and badges.